DO YOU HEAR THE BELL? {M, 8-12-24}

BEYOND WINTER: Irrelevant Musings and Memories of an Old Man—DO YOU HEAR THE BELL? {M, 8-12-24}

 

Gracie loved to ring the bell. So, she rang it too long. Harry didn’t like Gracie, so he didn’t want Gracie to ring the bell at all. But he did not want to be seen as a bad guy, who kept a poverty-stricken old widow from her one weekly joy, so he proposed to me that we institute a policy for everyone—that nobody rang the bell except for the preacher. That would take in Gracie, of course.

Yes, she rang it too long. The days of summoning people to church via the bell were long past. Now it was just a Sunday background sound. I figured, though, that Gracie was more important than the bell. So, I told Harry that I I didn’t think such a rule was necessary, or a good idea.

“You’re not hearing me,” Harry said.

People always claim they aren’t being heard if they don’t get what they want. They can’t believe anyone would disagree if they understood what they’re saying.

“No,” I told Harry, “I’m hearing you just fine. Clear as a bell. And I’m disagreeing with you. Hearing doesn’t mean agreeing.”

That’s the way the church works. You’re not a loser if your idea doesn’t carry in the church. You’re still a beloved member of the community. But you have to let others be heard, too. Because people don’t all think alike, there are some ideas to which we have to say “No.”

The same is true in any community. The grab bag excuse for every half-brained political kook these days is, “They feel like they’re not being heard.” No, we’re hearing them quite well, and we’re saying “No.”

That’s the way democracy works. You don’t get to have your way just because you’re the loudest. Or because you claim you aren’t being heard.

Many of the folks these days who claim they aren’t being heard are the ones who have always had the megaphones, who are always heard, who always get their way.

You know, if you’re saying that no one should ring the bell, in order to keep certain people from the bell rope, you should not be heard.

John Robert McFarland